Modern militaries have all manner of weapons at their disposal from nuclear submarines to heat-seeking missiles.

But 400 years ago technology was rather more limited and armies had to make the very best of their resources - in whatever shape or form they may take.

One such quest to steal a march on the enemy led to the publication of a whacky manuscript from 16th Century Germany which even considered using cats and birds to bomb opposing forces.

Animal arsenal: This drawing from a 16th Century German weapons manuscript shows how cats and birds were considered as possible delivery systems for bombs in warfare

Called Feuer Buech, which translates from old German as Fire Book, the 235-page treatise from 1584 contains a drawing of a feline and his feathered friend with 'rocket packs' strapped to backs as they ran and fly past a castle.

It's not clear whether they were actually used, but animals have for centuries been deployed in warfare, often to deliver messages or for transportation, but sometimes as weapons.

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At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, which ruled China between 960 and 1279, monkeys were thought to have been employed in a battle between rebels of the Yanzhou province and the Chinese Imperial Army.

They were clothed with straw, dipped in oil and set alight before being set loose into the enemy's camp.

Crazy contraptions: This sketch, from the 1584 treatise, shows exploding bombs hovering over a cauldron

Explosive document: The dossier is entitled Feuer Buech, which translates from old German as Fire Book

In the 16th Century, a German
artillery officer once presented a plan to use cats to spread poisonous
gas among enemy soldiers, although it was never enacted.

And much like miners used canaries to
warn of gas leaks, the British employed around 500,000 felines to warn
of lethal fumes during World War One.

In the Second World War, the U.S.
military experimented with bat bombs, which consisted of a casing that
contained a Mexican Free-tailed bat attached with a timed explosive.

The
idea was for the casings to be dropped from an aircraft and release the
bats which would then roost in eaves and attics before the timers went
off.

Not human resources: Animals have for centuries been used in warfare, often to deliver messages or for transportation, but also sometimes as weapons

A man (left) loads a far more conventional weapon on the battlefield, a cannon, while the bombs dreamt up came in all shapes and sizes (right)

Several tests were carried out, but
the plan was scrapped in 1944 when Fleet Admiral Ernest J King realised
it would not be combat-ready until mid-1945.

By that time, around $2million had been spent on the project.

More recently, donkeys have been used by insurgents to detonate explosives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But
the use of animals was never really that widespread if for no other
reason than nature's notorious unpredictability, which is never a
reassuring quality where explosives are involved.

Bizarre: It is anyone's guess what this weapon is supposed to be

Trying to steal a march on the enemy: The university summarises the dossier as a 'treatise on munitions and explosive devices, with many illustrations of the various devices and their uses'

Other sketches in Feuer Buech, which has been released in digital form by the The University of Pennsylvania, include barrel bombs, hand grenades, anti-personnel ground spikes and Catherine Wheel-style fireworks.

The university said the manuscript contains 34 colour illustrations, two of which are pasted in, possibly cut from another document.

It summarises the dossier as a 'treatise on munitions and explosive devices, with many illustrations of the various devices and their uses.'